USMNT midweek roundup: Horvath’s penalty heroics

Here’s a bullet-point rundown of the USMNT players whose clubs were in action this week (Monday through Thursday). Players are divided by position groups (which helps my depth-chart-oriented brain to process this information most usefully). Within position groups, players are listed chronologically, in order of when their games took place. Stats are from FotMob.

Strikers

Injured: Ricardo Pepi (knee, back on the field), Daryl Dike (thigh, early September), Brian White (hamstring), Jordan Morris (shoulder, early September), Patrick Agyemang (hernia, mid-October), Brandon Vázquez (knee, early September), Kristian Fletcher (ACL, March 2026)

• Jordan Pefok played the first half and won 3/5 duels in Reims’ 0-2 loss to Pau on Monday. Reims were losing 0-2 at halftime when Pefok came off.
• Charlie Kelman played 63 minutes, created 1 chance, and won 1/6 duels in Charlton’s 1-3 loss to Cambridge United on Tuesday. The score was 1-3 when he subbed off.
• Josh Sargent was not in Norwich’s squad for their 0-3 loss to Southampton on Tuesday.
• Damion Downs played 18 minutes off the bench, created 1 chance, and won 2/2 duels in Southampton’s 3-0 win over Norwich. It was 2-0 when Downs subbed on.
• Duncan McGuire played 1 minute off the bench in Orlando City’s 1-3 loss to Inter Miami on Wednesday.

Wingers and attacking mids

Injured: Malik Tillman (calf, mid-September), Kevin Paredes (ankle, mid September)

• Haji Wright played 21 minutes off the bench, won a penalty, scored a penalty, won 2/2 duels, and completed 1 dribble in Coventry City’s 1-2 loss to Millwall on Tuesday. Millwall was up 1-0 when he entered the game.

• Brenden Aaronson played 58 minutes, created 1 chance, missed 1 big chance, completed 2/3 dribbles, and won 2/4 duels in Leeds’ 1-1 (0-3) penalty loss to Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday. The score was 0-0 when Brenden subbed off.
• Jesús Ferreira played 83 minutes, created 3 chances, missed 1 big chance, completed 0/1 dribbles, and won 0/3 duels in the Seattle Sounders’ 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday. Seattle was up 2-0 when he subbed off.

Center mids

No injuries

• Tyler Adams played 16 minutes off the bench, won 1/2 tackles, 2/3 duels, and completed 16/16 passes (including 1/1 long balls) as Bournemouth lost 0-2 to Brentford. It was already 0-2 when Adams entered the game.
• Benja Cremaschi was an unused sub in Inter Miami’s 3-1 win over Orlando City on Wednesday.
• Cristian Roldan played 76 minutes, created 1 chance, won 1/3 tackles, and won 3/6 duels in the Seattle Sounders’ 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday. Seattle was up 2-0 when he subbed off.
• Lennard Maloney played 1 minute off the bench as Mainz won 4-1 over Rosenborg on Thursday (winning 5-3 on aggregate) in Conference League qualifying.

Fullbacks

Injured: Antonee Robinson (knee, back on the field), Caleb Wiley (back, early September)

• Jonathan Gómez played the full 90, won 3/5 duels, and completed 1 dribble in Albacete’s 2-3 loss to Racing Santander on Monday.
• George Bello played 76 minutes in LASK Linz’s 2-0 win over SV Horn on Wednesday in Austria’s cup. LASK were up 2-0 when Bello subbed off.
• Antonee Robinson was not in Fulham’s squad for their 2-0 win over Bristol City on Wednesday.

Here’s a clip of Jedi against Manchester United on Sunday:

• Alex Freeman played the full 90, created 1 chance, completed 0/4 dribbles, won 1/1 tackles, and won 3/11 duels in Orlando City’s 1-3 loss to Inter Miami on Wednesday.

Freeman’s defending on Miami’s second goal:

Freeman’s defending on Miami’s third goal:

• Reed Baker-Whiting played 30 minutes off the bench, created 1 chance, completed 2/2 dribbles, won 1/1 tackles, and won 3/3 duels in the Seattle Sounders’ 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday. Seattle was already up 2-0 when he subbed on.

Center-backs

Injured: Auston Trusty (foot, early September), Miles Robinson (leg, mid-September), Jalen Neal (mid September), John Brooks (muscle, early September)

• Josh Wynder was not with Benfica B for their 1-1 draw with Lusitania Lourosa on Monday.
• Cameron Carter-Vickers played all 120 minutes, won 8/11 duels, made 14 clearances, 4 interceptions, 1 block, and 2 recoveries in Celtic’s 0-0 (2-3) loss to Kairat Almaty in Champions League qualifying on Tuesday. The loss means that Celtic will play in the Europa League this season (not UCL).

Here are the scenes from Celtic’s defeat:

• Matai Akinmboni was not with Bournemouth’s first team for their 0-2 loss to Brentford on Tuesday.
• Anrie Chase was not in RB Salzburg’s squad for their 3-1 win over Dornbirn in Austria’s cup competition on Wednesday.
• Josh Wynder was not in Benfica’s squad for their 1-0 win over Fenerbahçe in Champions League qualifying on Wednesday.
• Jackson Ragen played the full 90, completed 1/1 dribbles, won 1/1 tackles, won 5/9 duels, and made 5 clearances in the Seattle Sounders’ 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday.
• Chris Richards played the full 90, missed 1 big chance, won 1/4 tackles, won 11/19 duels (his 11 duels won were the most in the match), and made 12 clearances as Crystal Palace drew 0-0 with Fredrikstad on Thursday in Conference League qualifying. Palace held a 1-0 lead from the first leg, so they’ll advance on aggregate.

Goalkeepers

No injuries

• Gaga Slonina played the full 90 for Chelsea’s U21s as they lost 1-3 to Shrewsbury Town in the EFL Trophy. Gaga made 2 saves, completed 49/62 passes, and 3/15 accurate long balls.
• Ethan Horvath played the full 90, made 6 saves in regular time, and saved 2/3 penalties to win the shootout, propelling Sheffield Wednesday past Leeds United in a 1-1 (3-0) Carabao Cup win on Tuesday. Horvath was rated Man of the Match by FotMob.

What were your takeaways? Hit the comments to discuss.